Wolf In November
by isabel culpeper
Summary: Ah, the broken youth, with bruised and empty souls. These careless kids, trapped in their silver clouds and ice coloured eyes." She was fury, while he was spite. And if he couldn't melt, then she never would. Crossverse AU: Harry Potter and Mercy Falls (READING THE LATTER IS NOT NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND THE PLOT).


Isabel Culpeper was never one to be overlooked, in later years, but on that first day on the train, she was just another face in the crowd. Draco had gone with Crabbe and Goyle to a compartment, and had stayed there most of the day until temptation became too much, and they left to find the Potter boy.

He might have passed her on his way back, but the only person he really noticed was Pansy, a girl his parents had introduced him to a year or so ago. It was only when they were in the boats with the rest of the first years that he saw her. He had ditched Crabbe and Goyle at the station after exchanging a few words with Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott, both of whom seemed like better company to keep than the two dimwits his father had told him would be good acquaintances. Just when they were approaching the boats, Nott had pulled a small blonde girl out of the crowd, insisting that she be in the same boat.

"Fancy someone already?" Blaise had teased, but Theo shook his head.

"We met in the train, she was with Pansy," he had said, as if that explained everything. The girl still did not speak, but fixed a harsh gaze on the other two boys, as if daring them to say otherwise to Theo's proposition.

"If she won't speak, then I'm saying no," Draco said.

"Got yourself quite a mind, don't you." Her American accent surprised the other two boys, but Theo grinned, tugging on her robes to guide her to a boat.

"And does this voice have a name?" Blaise asked of Theo, who gestured to the girl to speak.

"Isabel Culpeper. I already know who you are, so don't try and make too much of yourself. It would only be humiliating on your part." Zabini's eyes widened. It was from that point forward that they decided Isabel Culpeper would be someone good to have around. Her quiet, yet sharp glances, quick tongue, and quiet demeanor quickly grew on them.

When their second year rolled around, Zabini sought Isabel out, hoping to invite her to their compartment, but she told him no, _I already found one with someone._

"Who?"

"Pansy Parkinson. Much better company that you and Malfoy. Theo's okay though. Tell him to find me later, will you?" It had seemed that she and Theo had grown close, but Zabini didn't give up easily.

"Bring Pansy then." The witch pursed her lips, but agreed.

"I heard that you didn't want to sit near me," Draco said, a small smirk glinting on his lips.

"Only because your constant state of disgust _disgusts me_," she said, prim. Her comment wiped the smirk off his face, but he didn't want to admit defeat so soon.

"Maybe if you didn't spend so much with _Nott, _then the smell wouldn't rub off on you. Married yet?" She glared at him.

"You're one to speak. Seen anyone besides Zabini, or are you two joined at the hip?"

Months later, after several attacks on the Mudblood population, Isabel disappeared.

"Why'd she go? She'd not a Mudblood, so why'd she _leave_?" Theo was upset, seeing as how one of his best friends had left the school without so much as a warning. He was constantly moping around the common room during Christmas, and was getting on Draco's nerves.

"She just said she didn't feel comfortable, and her family wanted her home for Christmas." Pansy was sitting cross-legged in a chair, eyeing the platter of cookies on the table in front of them.

"But why did she have to leave _early?" _Theo threw something into the fire, and it turned green, matching the colours of their House. Draco laughed.

"You're so attached to her, Nott." The other boy glared at him.

"What if something happened? Even you, Malfoy, would be upset if something happened."

Draco didn't realize it at the time, but his sandy haired friend was correct.

He would have been very upset.

In their third year, it became apparent that Isabel could not s_tand _Hermione Granger, and this revelation made Draco ecstatic, not that Blaise and Theo's disdain of her was enough.

"At _least _I'm clever. _You're _just the Slytherins' _pet._" Granger glared at Isabel, whose already ice white skin paled, but her expression quickly turned smug.

"_Oh, at least_." Isabel twirled the words through the air with the grace of a knife-thrower. "Yes, I s_ee. _Quite right, Hermione." Theo looked at Draco, an expression of confusion across his face: it sounded like she was agreeing with Granger. "Yes, _at least _you're a stuck up _know it all_. Yes, _at least _you have no friends other than _a worthless redhead and a talentless prat. _Yes, a_t least _people only talk to you because you're _clever._ Obviously," Isabel was sneering at this point, "you're so much better than me. Please, _do _remind me again." Granger had turned bright red, and she pushed through the group of students that had formed behind her, leaving Isabel with a cold smile on her lips.

"Bravo!" Theo said when the crowd had dissipated. "_Please_ do that more often." Isabel was still watching Granger's retreating form, no particular expression on her face.

But it was only in their fourth year that Draco finally realized that he liked Isabel in a way that was _more _than a friend. It started when the announcement of the Yule Ball was made.

"Who are you going to ask, Blaise?" It was a known fact that while Isabel was pleasant to Blaise, they didn't get along too well other than the occasional practical joke at someone else's expense.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Definitely _not _you, Culpeper." She smiled, and tipped her goblet in his direction.

"Good choice, lad, good choice. I approve." It was rare that Isabel joked around, as she usually preferred to leave the petty tiffs and amusements to the rest of the group. Pansy laughed.

"Anyone in mind?" Pansy bent towards him from her seat, a mischievous glimmer in her eyes. "How about little Miss Weasley?" Blaise choked on his drink. Pansy laughed again. "Though I wouldn't blame you. Even Theo was eyeing her the other day." Theo scowled.

"That's sick, even for you – "

"_Excuse me?"_

" – she's thirteen and a bloody _Weasley._" Theo sent a questioning look in Pansy direction. She shrugged, as if letting it go for now.

"Why don't you just ask Pansy, Theodore?" Theo glared at Isabel. He hated it when anyone used his full first name. "I-I actually already…" Theo looked very uncomfortable under Isabel's steady gaze. Hers seemed to weigh more than anyone else's in the group.

"Theo, you promised me!" Pansy whined. Theo turned to her, utterly confused.

"I-"

"You told me you wouldn't tell anyone else! Why can't you just trust _me _with something?" Isabel raised a brow.

"Sharing secrets with Pansy, now are we, Theo?" Her voice was light and teasing. Theo looked back at Pansy one last time before nodding.

"Now _you, _Draco." Isabel fixed her gaze on him, and he felt (_ever so slightly_ was all he would ever admit) his pulse jump. "Are you going to ask Potter like we discussed?" Whatever he had been expecting, it had not been this. He spit out his drink and stared at her, stunned.

"What?" The rest of their group was laughing. Isabel was still looking at Draco, but there was a small smile on her face.

"I'm kidding, Malfoy. Lighten up." Theo cackled.

"And that's coming from _Isabel Culpeper._"

"Yes, thank you, Nott, I really did need your help in identifying the person sitting across from me." Pansy and Blaise snickered at the two of them, but Draco couldn't tell if he was just being sarcastic or was actually angry at Theo. He chose the former, but as the night went on, the latter tended to show through.

"How about _you, _Culpeper? Would Weasley Junior suit your taste?" Draco said, a glimmer in his eyes. She scowled.

"Of course not. You paint my standards so shallow, Malfoy. And yet, a gentleman you are considered." It always amazed Draco the formality of Isabel's words, the clever insults she added to injury.

"And yet you dare question my standing?" he shot back. She laughed.

"But you have to admit, if opposites attract, what a fine couple you would make."

When the five of them made it back to the common room, they occupied their usual set of chairs. Isabel excused herself to finish an assignment, and Blaise immediately turned to Theo and Pansy for an explanation of what had happened earlier at dinner. Pansy merely laughed, while Theo was stuck between glaring at her and thanking her. He decided to both.

"The person I want to ask to the ball was sitting next to me," he muttered quietly, and Blaise looked smug.

"Told you, Parkinson!" She put her hands up by her side.

"Hey, I didn't say that you were wrong." Draco felt like a match had been struck in his stomach.

Over the next couple of weeks, the fire that had been set grew, and it flared the day he watched Theo pull Isabel aside during break. Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, he was close enough to see them, which was torture enough. Theo was obviously nervous, and he imagined that Isabel would have a small smirk on (he was_hoping _that she did), and Isabel stood across from him, her hands holding onto the opposite elbow as they often did. Theo, who was already much taller than Isabel, bent down a little to ask her the question – Draco could only assume that was what he was saying – while she nodded. She tapped him on the shoulder, playfully almost, and spun on her heel, already heading to their first class.

"Went well, did it?" Draco's voice was colder than he had expected it would be as he greeted a beaming Theo. Theo faltered a bit, but Draco gave a fake smile to reassure the other boy.

"She said yes, so I'd have to agree with you." Draco nodded.

Two weeks later was the night of the Yule Ball, and Pansy, who had felt sorry for him, had agreed to go with him as friends.

"Can you help me with this? Blaise and Theo are too busy talking to help…" Isabel was the only one in the common room besides the under-fourth years. She was reading a book, still in her school clothes. She got up, and nodded, helping him tie the front of his dress robes. "Are you not going?" She shook her head.

"It's a bloody dress. How long does it take to put on?" Draco grinned.

"Apparently hours." Pansy had gone to get ready the second school had ended, and had not come down since.

"All done. But you're probably right, I should go and get ready. See you there, yeah?" She gave Draco a smile, and walked away.

If people had spared Granger a second glance when she came down the stairs to meet Krum, then they blatantly stared when Isabel descended on the arm of Theo. It wasn't just that they looked good together – Draco begrudgingly admitted it – it was Isabel. She was wearing a simple black lace dress, but with her bright white hair and pale skin, she looked like she had stepped straight out of an old photo. As she passed him, he noticed that her eyes looked a touch darker, warmer even, but still the same eyes that he had grown to know.

The fire burned its brightest when he saw them dancing during one of the slower songs, a smile on Theo's face and a smaller one on Isabel's.

At the start of their fifth year, Isabel arrived at Platform Nine and Three Quarters with a peregrine falcon. It was small, but she promised them that it would grow faster, _and_ _Theodore Nott, if you do that to it again, I will hex you. _None of them knew what made her get one, but she seemed rather proud of it, but not in the showy way that Theo and Pansy used to get attention. Isabel was quiet about it, but the second she was asked _what in bloody hell is that thing doing here_, she allowed a miniscule smile to grace her features and her eyes lit up.

"An elegant bird, Ms. Culpeper." Snape's oily voice echoed in the halls as Isabel walked with the other students, her bird perched on her shoulder (she said she had performed a spell on the thing's talons so that they wouldn't harm her).

"Thank you, Sir." Isabel looked smug, glancing at the bird, which she said she had named Hawthorne.

"… though completely against the rules," he continued, but Isabel did not falter.

"There's a fake feather – " _she pointed it out_ " – that's charmed to only let him hunt in the Forbidden Forest." Snape raised a brow.

"Impressive. Allow me to be the first to notify you of the consequences should that charm break." Isabel nodded. "But I must say, you have a fine taste." Isabel smiled.

"I picked him out myself." If any of them ever wanted to recall when Isabel Culpeper had ever been prideful, it would have to be that moment. Apparently their Head's opinion mattered more to her than they had thought.

Towards the end of their fifth year, Hawthorne had grown to a full-fledged falcon, and Isabel discovered a new interest: following her bird on her broom. Flying had always been something she had done alone. No one was ever invited to accompany her, and Draco realized that she had a type of power over the group, to the point where they didn't question her odd habits. It might have been that they had simply grown used to them, but Isabel was too different to ever grow used to.

He spotted her one night sneaking out the window, broom and bird in hand, and decided to follow. Isabel flew fast, like she was racing a patronus. Draco struggled to keep up with her as she dove, turned, and just rocketed through the night, having to press himself tight against the broom. It was a wonder she hadn't been recruited for the quidditch team, but most knew better than to approach her about such a topic (if they even knew she flew in the first place).

"Malfoy, I know you're there!" Her voice echoed over the forest, and Draco wondered just how far they were from the school. Her breath came out in short puffs, and it was cold enough that they turned white and flew to the moon. "What do you think?" Her eyes were bright, even in the dark, and she was smiling, wide. Isabel's cheeks were bright red from the wind, and her braid was coming undone.

Draco looked around, trying to spot her bird, but frowned when he realized the skies were empty. Her laughter brought his eyes back to hers. "It's too cold, and I let him back inside. I saw you coming out when I was the second time." Isabel being Isabel should have been angry that he would try and break into her task of solitude, but, instead, she angled her broom closer to his. "I'll race you," she whispered, and she was off, leaving him to play catch-up.

When he finally did, they were almost past the forest, miles away from the school, but that was the smallest thing on his mind. They were hovering, yes, but they were so close that it was almost like they were still on the ground, their shoulders brushing as he bent over. She pushed him back, though, right before his fingers could graze her cheeks. He thought, horrified, that he had overstepped his boundaries, that she would fly off again, but she somehow managed herself onto his broom, so that they were facing each other.

Isabel was proving to be something that couldn't be predicted, not in all the good ways, but not in all the bad ways, he thought. His hands curled around her wrists and tugged her closer to him, until she was pressed against him, her face close enough to his so that her breath was once again warm on his skin. He ran a finger, cold, over her lips, and she shivered. She leaned into him, closer, so that they were breathing the same air.

Their first kiss was chaste, simple, merely his lips grazing hers.

Somewhere in his mind, he wanted it to stay this way, a midnight ride over a forest that harboured death, and a simple kiss. But at the same time, he wanted more than that, and he pressed into her, wrapping his arms around her waist, her hands slowly, hesitantly, moving to curl at the base of his neck.

He had noticed before that her fingers were willowy, long and thin, and as they tugged at his hair, he remember this, smiling into her lips.

He wanted to remember this too.

It ended too soon, Draco felt, but the sun had started to rise, and they would be missed.

"My broom," she muttered, as they ran through the empty corridors, "it's still in the forest."

"Yes," he agreed. "It's probably still floating there." He was laughing, and she smacked his arm playfully. "So," he whispered into her hair. "That means we'll have to go get it." She smiled, something Draco was getting used to. "Are you growing up?" he muttered, feeling stupid the second the question left his mouth. She hesitated, standing on her tiptoes.

"I think we all are." Another kiss, this one just as perfect as the first. Her quiet façade was suddenly just that to Draco; something she kept for appearances. And that's what made her so _interesting, _her constant ability to amaze him, to show him new depths of her character.

Sixth year was the year where everything was supposed to go smoothly, but it seemed, at once, that it was all going wrong.

They were in a compartment on the train with the usual group, excluding Crabbe and Goyle. About an hour into the train ride, a nervous third year slid open their door, and silently handed two envelopes to Pansy before scurrying away.

"What are those?" Zabini asked, craning his neck in hopes of glancing at the words scrawled on the parchments. Pansy's brows furrowed.

"Well, this one's for you – " she handed it to Blaise " – and this one's for Isabel." The witch had been curled in the corner, asleep, when they had found her, and no one had the courage to wake her until now. Theo looked expectantly at Draco who had seated himself next to her.

"You wake her up, you snogged her." Draco, who had expected Theo to be bitter about him and Isabel, surprising didn't care too much. ("We didn't really get on that well, other than friends, and do you honestly think I would want to make it awkward between us? She's the best friend I've got, besides you.").

"Isa , wake – "

"Draco Malfoy, you better finish that first word." Draco grinned.

"_Isabel, _someone sent a parchment for you." She sat up, running her fingers through her tangled hair.

"Better not be something from – "

"It's from that new professor, Slughorn?" Blaise looked confused. "What would he want with us already?" Isabel frowned.

"I guess we better go…" She squeezed out of the compartment with Blaise, and they left.

"What do you think he could want?" Pansy shrugged.

"It said that he wanted to meet them for lunch. Wasn't he Head of the Slytherin House when our parents were here?" Draco nodded, feeling a touch better; since that was the case, they couldn't be in too much trouble.

It was another few hours before Isabel and Blaise returned, Isabel miffed and Blaise haughty.

"What did he want?" Pansy moved so that Isabel could sit across from Draco.

"It was lunch, but, really, he was just gathering all the people he thought were important." Draco puffed out his chest.

"Who else was there?" he asked. Isabel leaned her head against the window again, looking out.

"Potter – "

"Obviously," Draco said bitterly.

"McLaggen – '

"Not him, he's a prat!" Pansy said, frowning.

"Longbottom – "

"_Longbottom?"_

"Belby, and that Weasley girl – "

"Still don't fancy her?" Pasny asked, smiling. Blaise looked at her coldly.

"Not in a million years." Pansy looked pleased. "Apparently she hexed someone, so Slughorn invited her."

"Wait, why was Isabel there?" She still didn't turn from the window, implying that Blaise should answer for her.

"Hawthorne," Blaise said with a smile. They all looked up at the shelf above them where the bird was in its cage, its head tucked under its wing, asleep like its owner.

Draco had never seen her asleep. She was always awake, even at midnight, with her eyes glowing like that of a cat's. Isabel had a hand tucked between her neck and the window, and her hair fell to cover part of her face. Before, she had been curled, her face barely visible, but now she seemed more graceful, gently leaning against the window, her breath painting patterns on the glace.

"Maybe he didn't hear about who else – "

"Draco, I wouldn't count on being included this time. He asked about Theo's dad, but after hearing about run in's at the Ministry, he seemed uncomfortable." Isabel stirred, and Blaise stared, trying to figure out if it would be safe to go on, but Isabel opened her eyes.

"What?" They had been staring, but at her question, they continued on with their conversation.

"He's just a teacher, after all, what does his opinion really matter?" Draco said, trying to soothe his own ego. "But if I'm not going to be here next year, it shouldn't matter to me." The air in the compartment seemed to thicken, and while Blaise and Pansy looked curious, Isabel showed no emotion. But they all knew she was the reason for the tension.

"Why?" Pansy asked sharply. "What's changed?" Draco smirked.

"There are… things that are more important than _education." _Pansy looked stunned, as did Blaise.

"You mean… _Him?_" Pansy's voice was a whisper. Draco didn't speak, feeling smug. The silence of the compartment was suddenly shattered. Isabel stood up, snatching Hawthorne's cage and her satchel from the shelf overhead.

"Where are you going?" Draco was incredulous, having no idea what could have set her off. She glared at him, her eyes harsher than they had ever been.

"I'm going to go find Theo – "

"You know that he's with - "

"_Zabini, I have _a right to go find my best friend, so _sod off_." Isabel's voice was sharp, and Pansy flinched, but no one made a move to stop her. The compartment door slammed shut behind them.

Draco could only remember one other time when Isabel had acted like this around her own group. In their fifth year, he and Pansy had signed up for Umbridge's Imperial Squad.

_"Like our new badges, Nott?" Pansy said with a smirk. Theo shook his head._

_"What, being prefects wasn't enough?" She laughed._

_"No, of course not! Prefects can't take points from each other, you know that." Theo nodded._

_"So this is really to get at Granger and the rest of them, isn't it?" Draco laughed._

_"Oh, but it's so much more."_

_"Oh, really? In what way?" Isabel's eyes were narrowed in a fierce scowl._

_"What..?" Draco must have looked stunned, because he definitely felt it._

_"Is it really worth assisting a _corrupt administration _to score some points for a school House?" She sounded incredulous. But, without waiting for an answer, she stormed out of the common room and through the portrait hole._

There were another few tense moments of silence.

"I should go – after her," Pansy said, still eyeing Draco nervously. The second she was out of the compartment, Blaise glared at Draco.

"She's your girlfriend," he said, and Draco blinked at the label. "You should be the one going after her."

Draco shook his head. "It's Isabel." Zabini nodded.

"I guess," he muttered.

It was when the train pulled into the station when he saw her and Pansy. They were arguing, it seemed. He tried to get closer to them without being seen, which wasn't as easy as said; students were flooding out of the train and into the station.

"Look, Isabel, you have to at least try – "

"To what? To _understand? _Because honestly, I can't."

"But at least _try, _from our – "

"I can't. Not for long." Pansy nodded.

"But at least – "

"I know."

Draco thought, at the time, that it was something to do with Slughorn.

He wasn't too far off.


End file.
